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REASON i.f' INTOITION. 



^ Philosophical Poom. 



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Cr^^IMIES S- LJ^inDLJk."W. 



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REASON ^t^ INTUITION. 



^ Philosophical Postn. 



1^ 



769 BROADWAY., ^„.. 

m. 17 '- ' 

NEW YORK : l^O.^.^iMM^^ ,, 



1883. 






COPYRIGHTED Bt 

JAMES S. LAIDLAW, 
June 15, 1882. 



PREFACE 



Tlie reasons for giving tliis poem to the pub- 
lic may be summed up in tlie word DUTY. 

The writer being an artist by profession, and 
not an author, he has no apologies to offer for 
its faults ; seeks no praise by its publication. 



©Ixavttv |. 



Of the shallowness and superficiality of the present age. The 
feebleness and insufficiency of human wisdom. The insignifi- 
cance of Man's intellectual attainments. The impossibility of 
arriving at universal knowledge. The only certain law the law 
of mutibility. Of the brief period of research allowed to Man. 
Of the transitory nature of human existence and the vanity of 
ambition. 



^HpHIS age, is an age of shams and shows 
jl Where wordy-wisdom her trumpet blows 
m Of multitudinous sects and schools. 

Where dubious speculation rules. 

We talk of knowledge, like birds, we fly 

Through the mighty abyss of infinity. 

Flapping our feeble and tiny wings 

Amid the universe of things. 

Some little truths we think we know ; 

Like little children, we make a show 

Of learning ; we thin]<: we gain 

Some facts ; we think we make them plain ; 

But as we grow, we come to see, 

That wisdom grows eternally. 

. The trutli we think is fixed, to-day, 

To-morrow we And is passing away ; 

Lost, or merged in a higher one. 

Which we, in our blindness, had not known. 



In fact there is little we can tell ; 

We are to ourselves a miracle. 

'Tis true, that in comparison — 

"We know that nothing can be known." 

In ardent youth we launch away 

On the mighty voyage ; day by day 

We steadily keep our onward course. 

Hoping at last to reach the source 

Of the river of life ; we journey on — 

Leaving the lands through which we have gone ; 

Hoping that in the distance lies 

The boon of our long sacrifice. 

But we never reach the looked for shore ; 

Forever we seek, forever explore 

The distant and unapproachable ; 

Forever we gaze down the fathomless well 

Of life and iV s wondrous mystery ; 

Its depths profound we never see, 

"Yet still the restless human mind 

Will strive with patient toil to find 

The secret laws that lie below 

The surface of the things we know. 

AVhat are the hidden causes whence 

Proceeds this grand omnipotence 

Of life and death ; of motion — rest — 

Where countless forms become possessed 

Of vital force and energy, 

Appear, and culminate, and die ? 

By what begun 'I By what sustained 'i 

By what propelled ? By what detained ? 

These are the questions which revolve 

Within the mind that seeks to solve 



7 

The unexplained intricacy 

Of all we think and fee] and see 

The law of mutability. 

Is the only law of certainty — 

All things that live and breathe must die ; 

Must lose their material identity. 

Whene'er the force within them pent, 

Has reached its^summit and extent 

The energy of its own estate, 

Begins to slacken and dissix)ate. 

Till motionless within its bed 

It lies, and we pronounce it dead. 

How brief and uncertain is the span 

Of ex]3erience, allowed to man. 

We are but creatures of a day ! 

Our systems Hourish and decay. 

We chase our favorite phantasy 

For a few shortly ears, then pass away. 

We build our !'ci ties for others to have. 

When the builders moulder in the grave. 

Where are the cities of the plain i 

Buried beneath the dust again. 

Nineveh ! Thebes ! and Babylon I 

And fair Palmyra ! Grone : all gone ! 

Their hoj^es, their schemes, their earthly plans, 

Buried beneath the shifting sands ! 

The azure sky, the tropical air. 

And tbe glittering sunshine still are there, 

But the figures tilled with vital breath 

Have passed to the silent realms of death ; 

And we shall become, even as they. 

Obliterated — from memory . 



Our stately mansions and marble halls, 
AYith statnecl niches and pictured walls. 
Will echo in time the traveler' s tread. 
Seeking some sign of the vanished dead.. 
The crowded market and thoroughfare, 
Filled with faces of shrewdness and care. 
Be silent and still, as the lone lagoon, 
That glistens beneath the midnight moon.. 
Neither vestige nor remnant will remain 
Of the bustling mart of traffic and gain. 
The days — the years — are hurrying fast ! 
To sweei3 us into the tomb of the past ; 
The all-absorbing vacuum I 
That waits to receive the ^v ears to come. 
This is the tale of history — 
This our material destiny — 
This is where our pride must come — 
To the death-wx)rnis that people the tomb, 
Man walks the earth w itli stately strides ! 
Then crawls beneath her face and hides. 
The work of his hands endures, Avhen he, 
Has yielded up his identity. 
The institutions he founds remain 
AY hen the elements have dissolved his brain 
The productions of his genius and skill 
Exist when his hands are cold and still ; 
The vessel the potter moulds from clay 
Remains Avhen the potter has xiassed away ; 
The statue the sculptor carves from stone 
Is seen when the sculptor's soul has flown ; 
The canvas the artist paints upon 
Endures when the artist's form has gone ; 



9 

As the raindrop, falls into the sea, 
And mingles with its iniiiiensity ; 
The material form, and body of man 
Becomes absorbed in the general j^lan. 
Subject to the stern decree ! 
Of an inexorable destiny. 



©haptcv J|. 



The same mutations in the realm of mind as in matter. The 
unsettled condition of mental states. The uncertainty and inse- 
curity of its premises. Our ignorance of surrounding states of 
being. Attempts to solve them useless. The mysterious and com- 
plicated nature of mental operations, the impossibility of reduc- 
ing them to any definite system. That the mind can comprehend 
the operations of matter ; but not matter the mind. 



J S it is with matter ; so with mind — 
p| Systems of tliought are tauglit and dehned^ 
To be superseded by systems to come ; 
And still the aggregate and the sum 
Of knowledge is doubtful, — insecure — 
Its premises slender, vague, and ol:)scure. 
We dwell beside a vast domain, 
Unknown to any human brain. 
We see the changes of the scene ; 
But cannot pierce the fatal screen. 
Attempts to solve the mystery, 
Dubious doubtings multiply ; 
That often lead the soul astray, 
Like flickering lights that falsely play 
Around the traveler' s way at night ; 
Misleading — mis-directing sight. 
How^ complicated : How undeflned : 
Are the the evanescent laws of mind. 



A deep unraveled mystery ! 

A metamorphic history 

Of endless change, and couterchange ; 

Secret, — subtle, — silent, — strange, — 

A cunning, complex, woven scheme ; 

Where things do but appear and seem. 

An ever changing kaleidoscope ; 

Having no settled range or sc pe. 

Who can reduce to system or plan 

The intangible intellect of man \ 

Discover its mystical fountain or spring ; 

Or follow its hidden nianuvering. 

A realm where illusions and visions rise, 

That lifts at times tow^ard the skies. 

Where endless allurements beckon us on, 

To higher acheivements yet to be won. 

Or sink us to subterranean deeps. 

Where darkness and voiceless oblivion sleeps. 

Mid gropings and stumblings o'er objects unseen, 

And hidden obstructions that intervene. 

Till the soul in its doubt distrust and despair, 

Seems w^andering on it knows not where. 

Like pictures in a changing dream, 

Or debris on a swollen stream. 

The fleeting aspects come and go ; 

But whitherward we do not know^ 

It is a law^ — above the law 

That seeks its boundaries to draw^ 

Can the leaden plummet or the line. 

Measure, notice, or define, 

The action of the human soul. 

Whose powder holds it in control ? 



No ! The intelligence must deline 
The weight and distance of the line, 
('an the stupid balance tell the weight 
Of the goods that it contains as freight i 
Mark their quality and size ? 
No ! the knowledge must arise 
From an observing intelligence ; 
So it is with outward sense : 
It cannot trace the fountain whence 
It derives its power to feel and see, 
By demonstrative philosophy. 
Man thinks he has it in his grasp, 
When suddenly it eludes his clasp, 
And brings his newly invented name 
To shipwreck, grief, and early shame. 



©haptcv Jll. 

As the laws of matter and mind are imperfectly understood, so the 
law of life is hidden and inscrutable. The impossibility of arriving 
at any solution of its original nature by material experiments. Its 
method, mode, or rule of action, only known. 'Tis thus because 
the powers of mind in man are limited. The impossibility of 
man's arriving at a comprehension of universal laws. 

^ S the laws of matter and of mind, 
Are vaguely, imperfectly defined : 
K ^ So life in its essence is unknown ; 
Its primal traits cannot be sliown. 
The effect alone we may descry 
The acting force is hid from the eye. 
Like the hands upon the diaF s face, 
The outward movement we may trace, 
But the power and source of action lies 
Concealed from the observer's eyes. 
Like flowing veins beneath the well. 
Secret, remote, invisible. 
It escapes all closest scrutiny — 
It recedes from the anatomists eye — 
His skillful scalpel will not tell 
Its history unfathomable. 
From an unknown land of mystery 
We have come. Its unwritten history 
We cannot read ; Its secrets lie 
Beyond the reach of human eye. 



14 

A hidden principle keeps ns here ; 

And when it recedes we disappear. 

It acts by a law which is not shown. 

Peculiar to itself alone. 

Its method, mode, and ruling plan 

Of action, may be known to man ; 

But its aboriginal history, 

Must ever remain a mystery. 

'Tis thus because the powers of mind 

In man, are bounded — cribbed — confined, 

Within a certain fixed degree 

Of feeling and activity. 

To certain lengths his thoughts may go : 

Some things may understand and know : 

But o' er his fixed capacities. 

And powers, he never more may rise. 

Can the animalcule comprehend 

The object, purpose, aim and end 

Of the human soul, that through the eye 

Its tiny form doth magnify ? 

No ! beyond its little sphere 

It cannot pass, nor interfere. 

So mortal man may seek to find 

The laws of universal mind, 

Until his tenement of clay 

Disintegrates, and falls away. 

And still perhaps no nearer be 

Than in the days of infancy ; 

For while he proves one theory true^ 

God knits a thousand others new ; 

And weaves the web of destiny 

In tenfold new complexity. 



Though man's mind is limited, yet certain convictions are forced 
upon his attention. That three primal principles extend through- 
out the scale of nature, viz: Matter, Life, and Mind. That 
each of these principles is separate, independent and distinct ; yet 
acting together in harmony. That matter is inert : must be acted 
upon. That the principle of life alone gives it action. That mat- 
ter can only demonstrate itself. That no solution of life or mind 
can be derived from material experiments. That life is a univer- 
sal essence ; of the same nature everywhere throughout the uni- 
verse. That it is an agent between the universal mind, and the 
universe of matter. Of the different names by which it is desig- 
nated. Of the shallowness of the word force, as used by materi- 
alists. The true theory — omnipotent will acting on matter through 
spirit. That life must receive its action from intelligence. That 
power, force, evolution, and order are the result of self-conscious 
will and intellectual activity. 

TP^UT though we nevermore may trace 
Ifti These powers to their secret dwelling place : 
^^ Although we never more may see 
The depths of the hidden mystery ; 
Nor comprehend the mighty whole, 
In the realms of matter, life and soul ; 
Although our tongues may never tell. 
The many mingled miracle : 
Yet, in our search, one truth we tind 
Is forced upon the thoughtful mind. 
That three pure principles extend 



i6 

Through the scale of nature without end : 

Matter, and life, beneath the control 

Of the superintending, guiding soul ! 

Each, independent and distinct ; 

Tet indissolubly linked ; 

Each has its separate work to do : 

Its separate purpose to pursue. 

Matter must be acted upon : 

It has no action of its own. 

Matter is motionless, — stagnant,— still — 

'Tis enert — powerless — imbecile — 

Senseless — soulless— dormant — dead— 

^Tis like a body without a head : 

It cannot act by its own behest ; 

Its native property is to rest. 

Between its atoms, lies the thing 

That gives it motion, power and spring. 

Trembling, quivering, sensitive life ! 

Gives it action— motion— strife — 

Matter material things may prove ; 

But what does it linow of wisdom and love ? 

What does it linow of the dreadful estate 

And dominion of passion, and envy and hate 

What does it hnoii:) of the causes that spring 

Erom ambition, and pride, and suffering ? 

€an it melt in its crucible, thought and will ? 

Can it measure the soul' s inventive skill ? 

Can it crystalize to material grains, 

And bottle up human joys and pains ? 

No ! its dominion has limit— and bound— 

Its properties are of the earth and ground. 

Life and spirit alone can tell 



17 

Tlie meaning of life and its miracle. 
This active, nntiring energy, 
Which behind every effect doth lie : 
Is matter's intimate bosom friend ; 
And still they never mix nor blend. 
Like twins, locked in a close embrace^ 
Each occupies a different place. 
Forever separate and distinct : 
Yet indissolubly linked : 
Neither the other can ever be ; 
And still they exist in harmony. 
This invisible essence that lies 
Between material entities. 
Pnrsues its subtle and secret way 
With silent and undiminished sway. 
The changing forms of matter, fleet 
It uses but as hands and feet ; 
Agents ; and instruments to do 
The ends and purposes in view. 
Its faithful vassal, servant and slave ; 

From beginning at birth, to its end in the grave. 

Of the same nature everywhere 

In man and beast, in plant and air. 

It latent lies, within the rock. 

It trembles in the electric shock. 

It gives the elemental fire 

To human passion and desire. 

It thrills upon the meeting lips. 

It trembles on the finger-tips. 

It leaps like lightning in among 

The thrilling accents of the tongue. 

It gives the wondrous human eye 



Its sparkling sweet vivacity. 

It l^^rks witliin the vesicle. 

Where embryotic form doth dwell. 

In the hardened kernel whose husks contain 

The germ that yields the future grain. 

The egg in the nest ; the nerves that knit 

The network of fibres wlieron doth llit 

The silent messengers of the soul ; 

In the animate powers from pole to pole : 

In every form, no matter where : 

Wherever material bodies are, 

This subtle and secret power abides ; 

Controls and yet conceals and hides. 

'Tis life I all life— sublimely grand : 

Beneath a wise controlling hand ; 

One and indivisible — 

The agent of omnipotent will. 

'Tis nature's universal heart ! 

That sends the stream to every part : 

A vital all— pervading flame : 

A primal essence, still the same : 

A sensitive, essential state : 

That matter can but indicate, 

But never measured or deflned ; 

To one great central source inclined, 

Whose master, ruler, and control ; 

Is Grod, the universal soul ! 

Yarious are the names men give 

To this power by which they move and live. 

The chemist calls it "affinity ; '' 

But hardly knows the reason why. 

The doctors as a last resource. 



19 

Oall it the unknown " vital force ; " 
But what its parts, and properties are, 
Has for ages been their despair. 
The metaphysician calls it " cause ; '' 
And tallvs ab:)ut the law of laws. 
And in his learned obscurity. 
Multiplies its mystery. 
The scientist, in his long discourse 
or material reasoning, comes to ''force.' 
Well truly ! this is wondrous wise ! 
It serves the shallow to surprise : 
For every fool that walks the street. 
Knows ' tis force that moves his feet, 
What kind of force he cannot tell ; 
The scientist knows about as well. 
He knows that this and that take place, 
But when he undertakes to trace 
Its aboriginal history, 
He always comes to mystery. 
In the bottom of his material well, 
Is always something unreachable ; 
A certain remainder or residuum, 
Of which he cannot define the sum. 
He starts from a guessed hypothesis. 
And might as well guess all the rest. 
For if his starting point be wTong 
The falsehood grows as it goes along, 
And like a mistake in algebra. 
Leads him farther from the way. 
For emptiness in supreme degree ! 
This word, in our modern neology, 
In its application surpasses all ; 



Holding materialists in thrall. 

It is the ancient Pagan God ! 

Made of iron, and stone, and wood. 

The old material deity, 

Bestitnte of sympathy. 

The heartless Nemesis of fate ; 

Indifferent to our mortal state. 

Methinks no sadder sight can be, 

In all the range of humanity, 

Than a thinking soul seeking to lind 

In matter the sequel of life and mind. 

Like a miner descending into earth 

To seek the things of celestial birth. 

Farewell to all that is holy and high 

In religion, and art, and poesy ! 

The virtue and value of man' s estate 

Is now to be determined by weight ! 

The region where motives and morals are borit 

Is now to depend on the price of corn ! 

And the human stomach become the mill 

And factory for the production of will. 

Such are the ethics that are to be — 

The results of this morbid philosophy. 

Give me the thought that lifts the soul 

Beyond the range of earth' s control ; 

The infinite universal mind ! 

Whose fiat material forms combined : 

Who delegates inherent power 

To sensitive beings something lower. 

From the highest archangel of purity 

To the animalcule in just degree. 

Yet each makes perfect in its sphere, 



That none has power to interfere 

With the systems by which the other lives ; 

Yet each its just gradation gives. 

Of objects, uses, aims and ends ; 

That in one mighty system blends. 



On the assumption that organization teaches the existence of an 
organizer ; design, a designer ; the building, a builder ; effects^ 
a cause. That the dependent necessitates the independent, the 
finite, the infinite, the created, the creator ; objects, a subject, 
thoughts, a thinker ; the absurdity of an opposite course of rea- 
soning. That power and force must have their source in an intel- 
ligent, self-conscious being. Examples. 

DEPENDENT existence of every kind ; 

Jl^y Teaclies an independent mind ; 

^^ Organized nature everywhere ; 

Omnipotent will and power declare. 

Design, implies a designing mind. 

Objects : a being ; who forms combined. 

Matter could not combine of itself ; 

No more than a book could move from a shelf. 

Construction : formation : implies the one, 

By whom the constructing and forming was done. 

Arrangement, and order, could only be 

By a thinking and reasoning entity. 

The finite ; implies the infinite ; 

As shadow implies the presence of light. 

One could never exist nor be ; 

Except for the other' s identity. 

The architect, must precede the plan. 

The machine shop, does not make the man. 

As well might we talk about a bank. 

Being evolved from a wooden plank, 



23 

By some inherent restlessness, 

That eased its natural distress. 

'Twould be like the i^aradox sublime ! 

Of the course of human events without time. 

As well might we talk of bulk, without place. 

Or material substance, without space. 

One could never exist, or be ; 

Without its opposing entity. 

Affections — emotions — impulses — imply 

A subject, whose nature is moved thereby. 

Conscious, perceiving, and feeling states, 

Imj^ly a being to which it relates. 

Thought, without a thinker, would be 

A logical incimsistency. 

Hence, if creation was even begun ; 

Its author was an intelligent one. 

This should be plain to the simplest mind,. 

That is not wantonly, willfully, blind ; 

The absence of which, would be to deny 

The laws of inductive analogy. 

Thus reasoning from the results we see. 

To what we know cannot hut he: 

We come by logic' s infallible laws, 

To the uncreated creating cause ; 

The active intelligent spring and source,. 

Of original evolution and force. 

A living and individual soul ; 

Holding matter beneath its control 

By means of the sensitive agent life ; 

With which the universe is rife. 

The active : and the acted upon ; 

And that, by which the two are one. 



On the assumption that cause must be superior to effect. The applica- 
tion of the argument ; deductions therefrom. 

TO N^OTHER analogy let us trace, 
«| That carries conviction upon its face ; 
m^ That cause, forever must stronger be. 
Than effect; in nature's economy. 
That reflection, perception, and will, must flow 
From the higher department to that below. 
That motive power, and original force, 
Must be in a downw^ard, descendent course ; 
From causes above, to effects below. 
Is infallibly certain, and true, we know. 
The teacher must teach the one to be taught 
The knowing the one that knows it not. 
We do not send our children to school, 
Where the wise man, defers to the fool. 
The planner is always above the plan. 
The building does not produce the man. 
The apple does not produce the tree ; 
Nor the eye, the light with which we see. 
That wdiich produces must always be 
Oreater than the productivity. 
But why these examples multiply ^ 
They appear to the intellect endlessly. 
The truth must be apparent and plain, 



25 

To the commonest thinking and reasoning brain. 
The reverse of this, would be to say ; 
That the shortest, was the longest way ; 
That the pnpil, taught the teacher at school. 
That the wise man, knew less, than the fool. 
That the locomotive was drawn by the train. 
That steam power created Stephenson's brain. 
That the weakest, was the strongest force. 
That the river ran upward in its course. 
Or that the effect produced the cause. 
A contradiction of natural laAvs. 
'Tis too absurd to entertain; 

Of truth, it contains not a single grain. 

Effect, must be less, than the moving canse. 

Must be below, in the scale of laws ; 

As the tunnel, receives the downward tide 

Of influx, from its upper side ; 

And not as some modern scientists say ; 

Through the little end on its upward way. 

'Tis an inconsistent absurdity ! 

A solecism that could not be. 

'Tis true the evolution may be, 

From lesser, to larger, in degree. 

So far as its outward development goes ; 

But the source from whence it springs and flows, 
. Must be from some mightier energy, 

Than is the expanding effect we see. 

Now for the application : we find 
Ourselves possessed of a reasoning mmd ; 
Of perceiving, reflecting, faculties-. 
Emotions, impulses, and sympathies. 
Of an active and individual will : 



26 

Of a sensitive soul : susceptible 

Of feelings of pity, compassion, and love : 

Of powers and capacities to prove 

The nature of good and evil : the train 

Of results that each maintains : 

Of living and thinking self- consciousness : 

Of gifts, and powers, by which we impress 

Our character and condition of mind. 

On similar beings to us in kind : 

Now, could this being, created be, 

Except by a being of higher degree ? 

Of CO ordinate traits and qualities ; 

Bequeathing to it its energies. 

By delegated inherent descent, 

To certain determined bounds and extent '( 

No ! It must have received its control. 

From some superior, similar, soul ; 

Who gave it its system, and base of supplies. 

Thus in the scale of being we rise, 

By ontological upward ascent. 

To the being who is omnipotent ! 

The apex of all that lies below. 

From whom all life and being must flow. 

From the uncreated creating soul, 

Down through the universal whole ; 

To the smallest existing activity, 

Of organized being that could be. 

Higher than highest ! we cannot go ; 

Nor deeper descend ; than the deepest below. 

Thus from self -consciousness we prove 

The infinite author wisdom and love ; 

And come by infallible inference 



27 

That satisties reason and common sense : 

To the ultimate and essential cause, 

Of nature's mighty system of laws. 

One absolute individual soul ! 

That gives direction, power, and control, 

To material forms, where'er they l^e. 

Through the spirit' s invisible agency ; 

By the indej^endent — inflexible^ 

Fiat of omnipotent will ! 

An application of means, to ends ; 

By a soul, that sees and comj)reliends. 

So that the being of God we se^i ; 

By the logical law of necessity ; 

And reach a conclusion in the mind, 

That cannot be sapped nor undermined. 

By any short sighted expedient. 

That shallow soj^histry may invent. 

This is the being : The inflnite soul ! 

That sees the universal whole. 

Whose vision covers whole the domain. 

To whom all mystery is [)lain. 

That takes cognizance of all that is done, 

Or said, or suffered, beneath the sun. 

Beholds the distant effect of cause ; 

In the mighty system of nature's laws. 

Knows where the hidden connection lies. 

In the web of the subtlest intricacies ; 

In all the appliances, uses, ends — 

By which the scale of being extends. 

Sees where matter, begins to be 

A living and moving entity. 

Where force is engendered ; where impulse springs; 



28 

The sympathies, and relations of things ; 

And the vital connection between the whole ; 

In the realms of matter, and life, and soul. 

Forecasts, contrives, combines, invents. 

Provides for contingent accidents ; 

In all the framework and system that lies, 

At the base of nature's economies. 

This is the being whose infinite will ! 

All other beings, must work to fulfill. 

The primal fountain ! and living head ! 

Without which, nature were dormant — dead 

A lifeless and inanimate thing, 

Devoid of motion, power or spring. 

A silent, and songless, sepulchre ; 

Which neither beauty nor joy could confer. 

Thus by reason of things that are shown, 

The being of God is setn and known; 

As certain and sure, intellectually — 

As outward' ohjects are to the eye. 

By reason, we also know and see, 

With equal assurance and certainty. 

The threefold original principles. 

That everywhere in nature d>vell. 

That matter, is matter : to the core ! 

That life, is life : forever more ! 

That while eternal ages roll, 

The thinking soul, will be a soul ! 

Although the matter of the brain. 

Be blown about the dusty plain. 

The life that did the brain control, 

And acted as agent to the soul. 

Being etherial and refined, 



29 

Is still companion to the mind ; 
ISTot subject to the laws of sj)ace, 
Nor moved about from place to place ; 
But being possessed of thought and will., 
Can choose its mode of action still. 
Thus much the intellect may 8can, 
Of the mighty universal plan, 
Whose workings must forever be, 
To the human mind a mystery. 



ON INTUITION. 

While reason affirms the existence of God there is also an intuitive 
sense or apprehension of his presence by means of the universal 
spirit. That this kind of knowledge does not lie within the prov- 
ince of reason, its evidence must depend entirely on experience. 
That certain kinds of knowledge are incapable of intellectual 
proof. That attempts to prove them, only dissipate and distract 
the evidences ; but that while they cannot be proven by analogy, 
they are just as conclusive to the mind. That the powers of rea- 
son are limited. That her methods are tedious and slow. That 
abstract truth is emotionless and ineffective. That intuition is 
universal knowledge. That it does not depend upon intellectual 
capacity or development. That while we realize its operations, 
and feel its convictions, we cannot describe it in words. That it 
is our highest source of enjoyment. That it gives tranquillity 
amid confusion, society amid solitude ; that it is the basis of relig- 
ious faith and trust. The author's experience in connection with 
the subject. That reason and intuition agree, in regard to the 
truth of the subject under consideration. 

tHUS while reason affirms the soul 

That superintends the miglity whole ! 
There also conies a silent sense. 

Of the spirit' s invisible influence, 

A feeling that words can never express ; 

That renders all argument profitless ; 

Of which the evidence to the mind, 

Cannot be stated, nor well defined ; 

gut which is just as certain and true 



31 

To US, as that one and one are two. 

As we know that sngar is sweet, although 

The reason thereof we cannot show. 

An apprehension and evidence, 

Reaching ns through the orgaus of sense, 

And individual experience. 

Something we feel, but cannot tell ; 

Immediate and perceptible. 

It does not belong to the realm, domain, 

Nor office of reason, to explain. 

The region and realm of experience, 

Must be its only form of defense. 

How can philosophy, teach or tell 

The facts of touch or taste or smell ? 

How would you go to work to prove. 

By reason, the nature of human love, 

To one who had never felt its power 'i 

Or prove the fragrance of a flow^er % 

You might talk till your hair was white as snow ! 

And still the listener could never know 

The truth except by the orgaus of sense. 

And individual experience. 

Reason has limits, aud boundary lines ; 

She systematizes, and defines ; 

Shows what can, and what cannot be ; 

In the region and realm of philosophy. 

Reaches conclusions that must be ; 

By links in the chain of analogy. 

But intuition, is instant proof ; 

The evidence never stands aloof ; 

But cause and effect are instantly one. 

Acting together in unison. 



32 

Abstract truth, is cold and pale, 
Like the moral appended to a tale ; 
But oh, how sweet are convictions that rise 
In the realm of spontaneous sympathies ! 
This evidence comes alike to all — 
The high, the low— the great, the small- 
It comes to the ignorant and the wise- 
Through many a secret and subtle disguise. 
The humble, the lowly, the simple, and plain. 
As weU as the learned, its facts may gain. 
It comes to us with invisible power 
At the solemn and pensive twilight hour, 
An overfilling from on high. 
Of peace, and sweet tranquillity ; 
A condescending power and grace, 
Bringing our spirits /V^ce to face 
With that eternal source of good. 
Whose life, is love' s beatitude. 
A conscious communion and sympathy, 
AVith the infinite soul wherever we be ; 
A silent conviction of presence and power. 
Keeping us company hour by hour ; 
A heavenly wave of pure delight ! 
Illuminating the soul with light ; 
Begetting a calm contented mood. 
That l)lesses our loneliest solitude. 
Engendering faith, and infinite trust, 
In him whose ways are right and just ; 
As of a mother' s i3rotecting care, 
And tender watchfulness, everywhere. 
Frequently have we felt this power 
Descend on us, as on the fiower. 



33 

The gentle evening dews descend ; 
And with our human spirits blend. 
Begetting a joy more calm and sweet. 
More rounded, perfect and complete 
Than any enjoyment that could be 
In contact with humanity. 
On the sunny side of some verdant liill : 
Where meditative, calm, and still, 
We sat in thoughtful reverie. 
From human noise and passion free. 
Oh then, surpassing beautiful I 
Was nature's sweet and liquid lull ; 
A soothing, sympathizing swell 
Of inward emotion, unutterable, 
Would o' er our pensive spirits flow. 
That none who have not felt can know ; 
Stealing away, the sting and pain 
Of human nature' s harsh refrain. 
And substituting in its place. 
Celestial peace, and heavenly grace : 
Till chastened — softened — and subdued- 
In mild, serene, and thoughtful mood. 
We drank the beauty and bloom of life ; 
With which the scene around was rife ; 
Till self controlled and certifled ; 
We felt our souls in love allied. 
To the parent of eternal good. 
Amid the blissful solitude. 
Many u peaceful and happy day : 
Slowly sauntering far away — 
•To the sweet majestic solitude. 
And silence of some grand old wood : 



34 

Beneatli some towering tree reclined, 
Listening to tlie whispering wind, 
Or niurnmring and melodious liiim 
Of insect life, that seemed to come 
In constant cadence from the air 
Of sultry noontide everywhere : 
Watching the slow meandering stream, 
That caught the glittering golden beam 
Of radiant sunlight, glancing through 
A waving bower of many a hue : 
Tracing the beautiful curving How 
Of its crystal current, onward go : 
And hearing its murmuring monotone, 
Till my feverish restlessness was gone : 
Have felt the perfect, pure control. 
Of God, the universal soul. 
Perception then became intense ! 
And, passing htyond the regio ■>, of sense, 
To anjntellectual atmospliere, 
Primal truths loere made to appear ; 
And what before was darlt and Mind, 
Became apparent to my mind. 
I ,^^.^_and luider stood.— ^ndi lineic— 
Distinctions Hwixi the false and true. 
Thus reason, and intuition agree ; 
Spontaneity and analogy ; 
The/e/^ apprehension and sympathy ,. 
With that which reason affirms to be. 



©haptcv ItJJI. 

DEVOTIONA L OONCLUSEOX. 

"^RESIDING Genius ! Primal cause ! 
IP Of nature's princii3les and laws : 
m Whose boundless, broad beneficence 
Vivifies this world of sense : 
Whose blessed benedictions fall 
Alike on each, alike on all. 
Who sends the precious golden lio-lit 
Of the sun to creatures infinite. 
Who keeps the mighty spheres in phce 
That hurry along the eternal space. 
Who gave us gifts and powers to prove 
The depths of Thy supernal love : 
Although thy wisdom, power, and niiglir, 
Are far beyond our mortal sight ; 
Although we never more may ho])e 
To understand their utmost scope : 
Yet tJiis Wi/cnow th t Thou art good / 
"^hj peace and love may he understood. 
We will not murmur nor complain ; 
Nor dubious do ub tings entertain. 
We will not seel^ to learn or know. 
What thou hast chosen not to show. 
We Hve in Thee a life of trust : 



36 

We know Thy ways are right and just ; 

We rest in Thee our destiny ; 

Do as seemeth good to Thee. 

Thankfully will we receive 

The blessings Thou dost choose to give. 

Hour by hour, and day by day, 

We gather wisdom along the way. 

We bide our time in patience ; we know 

That truth's immortal tree will grow, 

And yeild the fruit that never dies, 

In love's celestial i3aradise. 

We sit with calm, serene, content ; 

Within the shadow beside our tent ; 

And watch it slowly lengthen away. 

Even to the closing hours of day : 

Knowing that life is a miracle. 

The secret of which no man can tell. 

We wait the hidden decree of fate 

That opens for us the beautiful gate. 

That leads to nughtier realms of thought ; 

Where the soul by pure beings is taught ; 

And a nobler destiny has to prove ; 

Where loftier heights of wisdom and love. 

Forever and ever entice it on ; 

In the journey that shall never be done. 

Infinite Parent ! Eternal ! Divine ! — 

Accept this humble effort of mine 

As earnest inward orison ; 

Of one sour s prevailing tone. 



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